UMES to outsource dining services

PRINCESS ANNE – UMES has announced plans to outsource campus dining services despite protest by impacted workers who fear the loss of 70 or more jobs.

The move would fill a void for students in the college town limited on dining options, said UMES President Juliette B. Bell. She also said the “difficult decision,” made in the best interest of students and the university, would help attract and keep students at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

“With the limited dining options available in the community, our students have been requesting other dining options such as name brand vendors and a wider variety of food options to accommodate diverse dietary needs,” Bell said in a statement. “We think this can be accomplished most efficiently by using an outside contractor with specialized experience.

“We also believe that providing wider choices in food service is a significant step in attracting, enrolling and retaining students,” Bell said.

For the up to 80 dining services employees who would have to re-apply for their jobs, the outsourcing could mean unemployment or, at best, a hefty reduction in their per-hour average pay of about $11, according to the union representing some of the workers, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

AFSCME leaders issued a statement lambasting Bell’s decision, calling the outsourcing “a corporate handout” to a private firm that would “drive workers well below the federal poverty line” as the state moves to raise the minimum wage.

“At a time when our state and national leaders are working to lift hard-working families out of poverty by increasing the minimum wage,” said AFSCME Maryland president Patrick Moran, “President Bell has chosen to push 85 UMES workers well below the poverty line.”

He was referring to a bill passed earlier this week by Maryland lawmakers to raise the minimum raise to $10.10 in increments during the next four years. The first increment, effective Jan. 1, 2015, raises the wage to $8 an hour, from the current $7.25 per hour.

Jeff Pittman, an AFSCME Maryland spokesman, said in December, that he feared that salaries of workers hired by the private food vendor could drop to below $9 per hour.

According to UMES officials, companies that submitted bids for the dining services contract agreed to interview current workers to fill needed positions. Bidders also agreed that if selected, “they would match salary levels current at the time of the bid, for any re-employed worker hired in a similar position.”

Currently, an estimated 80 people are employed in UMES food services, 70 of which are considered contingent, or contractual. About 10 of the workers are members of AFSCME, union officials have said.

According to a request for proposals issued by UMES last fall, the contractor would have exclusive rights to provide dining services for students, faculty and staff, cash facilities and concessions. The contract would include operations of the Plateau main dining room, Oasis faculty and guest dining room, the Hawk’s Nest snack bar and the Cafe Grande coffee shop and cyber cafe.

In the 2012-2013 academic year, total cash sales alone in dining services were just more than $1 million.

According to the request for proposals, the Hotel and Restaurant Program would be permitted to provide food services related to academic programs.

The university justified withholding the name of the recommended vendor by saying state policy precludes disclosure until the proposal is vetted by the University System of Maryland and other state agencies.

The private vendor is expected to take over dining services on July 1, the university said.